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Meaning of Numbers in the Bible

Gaynor Borade
The Holy Bible has a consistent reference to numbers, from the Book of Genesis to the book of Revelations. Other than the regular page numbering, numerals are used throughout the passages.
The Holy Bible is revered by the Christians as the 'word of God'. Numbers are an important part in religious or spiritual writing. They are either interpreted in literal application or spiritual symbolism. References in the Bible, using numbers, include:
1 - the 'one omnipresent' God, all pervasive and supernatural;

2 - the two testimonials or testaments, namely The Old Testament, and The New Testament;

3 - The Holy Trinity - Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, the triune Godhead or the 3 days before Christ's resurrection from the dead;
4 - the very symbolic 4th verse 'And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness';

5 - the 5th day of creation, when God filled the earth with life forms and added glory to the creation of land and water or the 5 decades the Holy Rosary to the Virgin Mary, in the case of Catholicism.
These are just some of the meanings that certain numbers relate to in the Bible. Likewise, different people derive different explanations from the use of them, and while some members of the congregation take them literally, some look for hidden clues. 
Whether they are symbolic or not, they are there to facilitate a sense of quantity and time. The contents of the Bible are divided into two distinct parts. Both have numbers integrated into verse.
While The Old Testament, reveals the creation and prophets before Jesus Christ, The New Testament emphasizes Christ's life and Revelations about the 'end of times'.
The Bible is full of symbolic reference and it is not very easy to accept the Word as 'one directed by God', and then find relation to the numbers within.
Numbers have been used to indicate the days it took for God to create the earth, the time span during which the first two humans lived on the earth and procreated, the days of the flood, the periods of fasting, the 'end times' of the 'beast' or the anti Christ, the days before Christ resurrected, and even the Stations of the Cross at the Easter ritual.
It is absolute faith that Christians accept and believe in them and symbols that defy limited human understanding. The numbers used and referred to in the Holy Book play a very important role in helping the faithful to determine a span of time or specific reference to a character.
Chronological time standards are used not only by Christianity on the basis of the information in the Bible, but also by other religions. They are usually indicative of and specific to traditions, feasts, celebrations, and rituals. They are used to literally indicate and symbolize spiritual signs.
Again through the implementation of numbers, it becomes easier to relate to the:
  • 10 Commandments as a code of behavior;
  • 13 hours or Adoration - symbolizing the Crucifixion of Christ;
  • 14 Stations of the Cross;
  • 40 days of Lent;
  • 666 reference to the Anti-Christ.
It is important to remember that the Bible has been written by various 'men', under directives from God, over different periods of time. The spiritual semantics behind numbers in the Holy Bible are personally significant when they are accepted literally, or with sufficiently proven interpretation.